Soon after the United States Meat Export Federation Spring Conference in Fort Worth, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, caught up with the organization’s president and CEO, Dan Halstrom, and talked about the conference. The event was attended by stakeholders and regional office reps of the USMEF.
Yesterday, they discussed the situation in China, and today, they are talking about the U.S.’s number one customer – Latin America.
According to Halstrom, the key to keeping those markets strong is maintaining market access. “USMCA, as well as CAFTA – the Central American trade agreement – these are two trade agreements that have been in place for decades,” he explained. “They, especially Mexico and Canada, were protected in the initial tariff situation on Liberation Day in early April, where there were no reciprocal tariffs beyond steel and aluminum. So, we protected those two trade agreement regions, which are vital for agriculture. Not only beef and pork, but corn, soybeans, the list goes on.”
Additionally, the personal relationships developed over decades of trade with these countries, along with the expansion of the middle class, and the growth of purchasing power in Mexico, have made the country a marque market for the United States.
“I think we are really seeing the benefits of that today, and the real target here is to keep that momentum going,” Halstrom said.
Despite the turmoil surrounding tariffs this year, demand for U.S. beef and pork has stood resiliently against the chaos.
“This is something that I keep emphasizing to our team, we talked about it last week with our membership – let’s not get too down on all of the uncertainties; let’s really focus on what we can control, and one thing that is not uncertain is demand,” Halstrom stated. “Demand is record-breaking in a lot of countries.”
The U.S. and U.K. recently reached a significant trade deal, primarily focusing on tariff reductions and removals on goods like cars, steel, and agricultural products. The agreement aims to expand market access for U.S. exporters to the UK, potentially creating a $5 billion opportunity for new exports.
“I think it’s a great first step,” Halstrom said of the U.S. and U.K. agreement. “We were excited to hear the news on the U.K. The part that was successful initially, here, was when the U.K. left the E.U. (European Union) several years ago; they then lost access to the duty-free quota that we have, so now they are paying duties. This agreement establishes a 13,000 metric ton duty-free quota for the U.K. That part is great; however, some of the non-tariff trade issues – we know there are quite a few when dealing with the E.U. and the U.K. – have not been fully resolved.”
Halstrom remains hopeful that resolutions are found for those issues as well.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
